Halloween Nights
by HidingBehindASmile
Summary: We all know that James and Lily's story ends on Halloween night, but what about the years before that? Here you see the Halloween nights the pair experienced before that fated night.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Hey, I think I'm back for another multi-chaptered malarkey. Hopefully I should be posting weekly (ish… Don't quote me on that). I think it will probably be 6 (possibly 7 if you're really lucky… or something) chapters. I hope you like it.**

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"Reedy!" James called, his eyes wide with excitement.

The old elf appeared next to the boy with a deafening crack, bowing deeply.

"Yes, young master?"

"Reedy, I want a pumpkin," James ordered. "Please," he added as an afterthought, despite the elf having already disappeared.

Reedy returned momentarily, staggering under the weight of the large pumpkin. With the help of James, he just about managed to heave it into the table.

Reedy hovered for a moment but, seeing James was preoccupied by the pumpkin, bowed and left quietly, tottering out of the room in preference to drawing more attention to himself by disapparating.

James climbed up onto the smartly-covered dining room chair, tracing his fingers in a variety of shapes. Whatever he was going to do, he wanted to do it well. If he wanted his parents to be proud, it would have to be incredible. Maybe it could be a hippogriff, someone on their broom, Hogwarts?

Picking up the knife he had spirited out of the kitchen earlier, James set about carving his pumpkin. However, he quickly realised that he should have scooped out the insides before he had begun. He sighed deeply. He knew the Diggorys gathered as a family to carve their pumpkins.

Oh well, he could do it himself. Amos may have been quite a few years older and much bigger, but James was sure he could do better than him. Amos was just a show off anyway.

Wielding the knife once more, James began again.

Half an hour later, his design was finally taking shape. True, it didn't look _quite_ how he had imagined, but still, better than anything anyone else his age could do.

He felt remarkably smug as he heard the sound of the large oak front door swinging open and his parents returning.

"James, honey?" He heard his mother's voice.

"IN THE DINING ROOM," he yelled, turning his pumpkin to face the door.

After a few moments of muffled noise, his parents finally walked in.

"Merlin," his father gulped.

James looked around. Perhaps he should have got Reedy to do something about the pumpkin splattered across the wall. He smiled cheekily and saw his mother's face soften. She glanced at his father.

"We'll get this sorted in no time," he smiled. "Scourgify!" He shouted, pointing he wand at the offending entrails. Giving the wall another glance, he reconsidered. "Reedy!"

An hour later, the family sat down to a Halloween dinner, their plates piled high with food. In just an hour, Reedy had been able to produce a feast fit for kings. A large array of different platters filled the table and despite there only being three diners present, there was enough food for a great many more. James' pumpkin took pride of place, hovering above the table, enchanted to bare its teeth every so often.

James smiled happily as he sat between his parents, hiding his sliced fingers from them. They might have forgiven him this evening, but even he knew he wasn't allowed to steal the knives, not after last time.

Perhaps it was time to think of some Christmas presents, try and get their minds off his mischief. His eyes twinkled cheekily as he thought of all the trouble he could get into before then.

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Lily watched eagerly as her father carefully eased his knife through the skin of the pumpkin. A pile of pumpkin innards sat in a bowl to her left, balanced precariously on the edge of the table.

"So, what do we want? A happy pumpkin?" Her father grinned.

Lily planted her hands on her hips and shook her head decisively, her vibrant red hair whipping through the air.

"Don't be silly, Daddy," she said in a no-nonsense manner. "It's _Halloween_. It's got to be a _scary_ pumpkin."

"Of course, my pumpkin," her father laughed, ruffling her hair.

Lily screwed up her nose at her father's messy hands but a small giggle soon slipped out. Teetering on the edge of her stool, she strained he neck to look further at what her father was doing.

"Daddy," she said indignantly. "It's got to have bigger teeth than that." She continued to give further advice, freely criticising his technique. Her father smiled, his forehead furrowed in concentration. Finally he straightened up.

"Done?" Lily asked eagerly.

"Done," he nodded.

Lily scampered across the kitchen to fetch the tea lights they had bought earlier. Bringing them to the table, she jumped up onto her father's knee. He opened the packet with ease and handed the candles to her one by one and she placed them carefully inside the carved pumpkin.

Lily left out a noise of indignation as she was lifted off her father's lap and placed on the chair.

"Just getting the matches, pumpkin," her father said with his head in the cupboard.

"They're in the drawer, Daddy," Lily prompted. "You put them in there after Tuney's birthday."

"Right you are, darling," her father replied, shaking the box of matches.

"Can I do it, Daddy?" Lily asked, smiling innocently at her father.

"Go on then," he smiled, putting his arms around her. "Now remember, you have to strike it-"

"Away from you," Lily finished, smiling.

"Of course. Now: Three... Two... One..."

They moved their hands together and the match lit successfully. However, as her hand hovered over the opening of the pumpkin, she wavered slightly and the flame licked her hand gently. She let out a sharp yelp. Pulling back quickly, she dropped the box of matches on the floor, scattering them everywhere.

"I'm okay! I'm okay!" She reassured her father, her face turning a bright scarlet.

As her father picked up the fallen matches, Lily scowled at the pumpkin. She hated getting things wrong. Gritting her teeth, she looked over at her father who had collected the last of the matches. Glancing back she did a double take; the pumpkin was now glowing, the candles inside alight. Lily gaped.

"Okay pumpkin, second time lucky- Wait, what happened?" Her father looked just as confused as she did.

"Maybe... I... Maybe I just lit them before I dropped it?" Lily asked, struggling to find an explanation.

"Maybe..." Her father shrugged, scratching his head. "It's the only explanation."

"Or maybe..." Lily pondered. Her father cocked his head. She smiled wickedly. "Halloween magic!"

Her father laughed and ruffled her hair again.

"Come on pumpkin, let's show your mother and your sister."

"TUNEY!" Lily bellowed.

"Ouch," her father laughed. "I might need some new eardrums."

Lily smiled sweetly, her eyes wide, a look of pure innocence on her face.

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**A/N – Well, thanks for reading. Bye… (Sorry I always feel like I should end this but I don't know how.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N – I know. I know I said weekly. I lied. I have been busy, that's true, but also I have been lazy, and just not in the mood to write a lot of the time. So I'm sorry about that, but just think, this chapter might have been worse (if that's possible) had I forced myself to write it earlier.**

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"I know it's still a few months until Christmas, but we didn't want to wait," James' mother smiled at her only son.

He looked up at her, his two front teeth missing. He looked almost angelic, although anyone who spent more than five minutes near the boy would know this was not the case. His fingers twitched excitedly as he tried to peer round his father's shoulder at the package behind.

"Go on then, my boy," said his father, smiling as James propelled himself towards the broomstick-shaped package.

"I wonder what it is," said James with a smirk.

He knew his subtle dropping of hints last week in Diagon Alley would work. His parents couldn't resist giving in to his every desire. Well, apart from the time he asked for a dragon. Still, he could wait until his next birthday for that…

His parents watched as he tore the brown paper off the broomstick. Despite still working, James' parents were older than the average wizard. Their hair was now greyer than its original shade and their wrinkled faces and his father's stick let on that they were not quite as young as they liked to think. They exchanged smiles as their son's face lit up with happiness as he swung a leg over his new broomstick.

"James, honey, not in the house," his mother said in a resigned voice.

James responded with a wave as he flew up the spiral staircase.

"Let him have his fun," his father smiled, rolling his eyes at his son. "He'll be at Hogwarts before we know it."

"Wreaking havoc, no doubt," his mother replied ruefully. "Merlin only knows how many owls we're going to get from Dumbledore."

"At least he'll be happy," his father said, slipping his hand into hers.

A loud crash from upstairs caused the pair to look up again.

"Wasn't me!" A loud voice hollered from upstairs.

"Of course," his father rolled his eyes at his wife. "Just like that small explosion in the kitchen last week wasn't him either."

"It was all okay in the end," his wife reassured him.

"Despite Toddy no longer having any eyebrows," he said pointedly, raising his eyebrows for emphasis. "Speak of the devil…" He muttered as the elf appeared with a resounding thud.

"Master, Mistress," the elf said with a deep bow. "Dinner is almost ready."

"Thank you, Toddy," Mr Potter said, glancing again up the stairs as another loud crash was heard. "That boy… Toddy, would you mind…" He once again noticed the elf's lack of eyebrows. "Actually, don't worry, I can fetch him."

"Thank you, sir," the elf said, bowing much more deeply and hurrying from the hall towards the kitchen.

"James!" Mr Potter called loudly.

"It's not broken!" His son yelled back. "Well… Much."

"I…" His father shook his head. "I don't even want to think about it," he muttered. "Dinner!"

With a whoosh, James shot down the stairs again, almost knocking his mother off her feet.

"I'm here," he said, with an unabashed smile. "Have I missed the treacle tart?"

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"This time next year we'll be at Hogwarts," Severus said happily, crouched next to Lily under the large oak. "There's a big feast and everything. Dumbledore will do an amazing speech and there will be pumpkins. Not just normal ones, magic ones."

"How do you know so much?" Lily asked.

"My mum," Severus shrugged.

"But she went to Hogwarts..." Lily's nose crumpled as she thought quickly. "...Seventeen years ago? How do you know? It's not like your dad went..." She trailed off at the stony look on his face.

"Sorry, Sev," she said anxiously. "I didn't think." Looking around desperately, she caught sight of the pumpkin they had carved earlier and hurriedly changed the subject. "You want to see what I've been practicing?" She smiled softly and Severus smiled back.

"'Course."

Lily narrowed her eyes and stared at the pumpkin intently. Severus waited patiently.

After a moment his face split into a grin. As did the pumpkin's for that matter. Its spiked mouth smiled and frowned, even sticking out a cheeky tongue of fire. The pair laughed as Lily continued to give the pumpkin more amusing faces.

"Witch." A familiar voice sounded from behind them. Severus flinched and turned quickly, positioning his body protectively in front of Lily's. Lily turned more slowly, her heart sinking.

Her sister stood in front of them, her faced curled in a sneer of disgust. Looking Lily directly in the eye, she spoke again.

"Witch."

Sure, the statement was true enough, but the hate in Petunia's voice still struck Lily deep. She was ten; she was only supposed to have arguments about toys and other petty matters. Her sister wasn't supposed to _hate_ her.

Sev was looking at Petunia with a look of derision rarely seen on the face of someone his age. His fists were clenched tightly and his eyes were cold. They stood still, glaring at each other.

"Witch." Petunia said again.

Without warning, the pumpkin burst into flames.

Lily gasped and Petunia screamed, running back towards the house. Severus watched silently. When Petunia finally entered the house, he relaxed. His fists uncurled, his jaw unclenched and the flaming pumpkin died out, leaving a smouldering pile behind.

"Sev..." Lily said softly. "She didn't-"

"She did," he interrupted, his eyes dark.

Lily walked back a few steps, glancing anxiously at the house.

"I should go and check..." Lily trailed off.

"Check what? Check if she still hates you?" At Lily's flinch, his face softened. "Sorry, I didn't-"

Lily shrugged, a forced smile on her face. Much as she wanted to protect her sister, she found it hard when she just made it worse. Severus was unforgiving of Petunia and she didn't want to lose her best friend, but she didn't want to lose her sister either. Her eyes flickered towards the house again.

"Go in," Severus offered. "In just a year, we'll be there. She won't be."

Lily smiled, properly this time. Whatever her sister said, it wouldn't change the fact that she would be in Hogwarts next year. She would be learning magic.

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**A/N – Thank you for reading. Again, reviews would be appreciated, but are not required. **


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